


Almost Lost You

by hwy_unicorn



Category: Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:07:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27551245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hwy_unicorn/pseuds/hwy_unicorn
Summary: “Norma,” he gave her a little nudge and she hummed, sitting up a little. “Norma I-“I want to leave this town. I want to leave the place you almost died. I can’t be here anymore. I almost lost you.“What?” she asked, sitting up straighter, noticing the concerned look on his face. “Alex?”“I just can’t believe I almost lost you. I- I can’t stop thinking about it.”“Oh Alex,” she cupped his face, pulling him close. “Alex… I-I’m so sorry.”
Relationships: Norma Bates/Alex Romero
Comments: 12
Kudos: 15





	Almost Lost You

Alex and Norma didn’t have a honeymoon. After all, this marriage was fake in the beginning, no real feelings were ever meant to happen, so a honeymoon was never really in the cards for them. They discussed it briefly one afternoon over tea and homemade cookies, but nothing ever came out of the conversation. They talked about it again, but Norman had just come home and it would be too difficult. He would feel left out. They haven’t discussed it since, and neither brought it up after the incident. But it would be nice, Norma thought to herself every once in a while, to have a honeymoon.

And she was daydreaming about just that as she sat in her motel office on the rainy Tuesday morning. She thought about all the places her and Alex could go, starting with a snowy trip up to the mountains, days full of hot cocoa, sledding, and snowball fights. She smiled at the thought. They could also go to a beach, spend their days swimming in the ocean, taking walks on the sand while the sun was setting. It all sounded so cliché, but Norma had always wanted something cliché. Her mind wandered for just a moment more, a smile on her face, before the phone interrupted her pleasant daydream.

“Bates Motel, how can I help you?”

“Hey, it’s me,” Alex replied on the other end.

“Oh! Hi honey!” Norma smiled brightly, twisting the phone cord around her dainty fingers.

“Sorry, you didn’t answer your cell, so I figured-”

“Oh, it’s in the back, I’m sorry. It must be on silent.”

“No, no, it’s okay, I just wanted to check in. See how you were.”

She smiled softly at his words, her heart fluttering at the sentiment. He’s been extra worried lately, calling to check on her more often throughout the day. She couldn’t necessarily blame him, and it admittedly did make her feel a little special. She didn’t like to linger on the reasoning for very long though.

“I’m good. It’s been a slow day. As usual,” she shrugged. “How are you? How’s work?”

He chuckled. “Slow day over here too. I uh- I actually was wondering if you’d wanna stop by my place tonight?”

She frowned. “Your place? Why?” she didn’t mean to come off so rude, and was backtracking quickly. “Not that- not that your place isn’t great! But I just- I um- erm-”

“Norma,” he laughed gently, cutting off her flustered voice. “I just have to get some stuff to bring back. I thought you could help me. If you’d like? I don’t know, it might take a while and I’ll…I’ll miss you,” he admitted bashfully, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

“You’ll miss me?” she teased. “Well that is just too sweet Sheriff!”

“Shut up,” he laughed. “You wanna come?”

“Sure!” she replied, a little gleeful over his admission.

She knew by now how sweet, and truly romantic Alex was, but sometimes she was a little surprised. It really didn’t seem all that long ago that he was banging on her door, questioning her about Keith Summers. It was funny almost, how they went from cop and suspect, to husband and wife. She never would’ve thought it would happen.

“What time?”

“Maybe stop by around 6:00? We can order some dinner too.”

“Yeah that sounds good. I’ll see you then.”

“Alright then. Hey. I love you.”

Norma smiled, never tiring of hearing the words come from his mouth. “I love you too. See you tonight.”

“See ya.”

If the day wasn’t moving slow before, it certainly was now. Norma reasoned with herself that she shouldn’t expect any new guests. White Pine Bay wasn’t exactly a tourist trap, and even with the warmer weather, not a lot of people were passing through. They probably wouldn’t want to stay here anyways.

She frowned at the thought.

_Who’s gonna wanna book a room at the rape/murder motel?_

Well now it was the rape/murder/second murder/multiple murders/near murder-suicide motel. Her throat closed up at the thought; she really hated how hard it suddenly became to breathe every time she thought about what happened here only a mere four months ago. She quickly cleared her throat, and her mind, grabbing a stack of papers off the desk and busying herself with shredding them in the back. She didn’t need to think about that now.

Norma closed up the office early. Her and Alex hadn’t discussed it yet, but they both knew business wasn’t going to improve, and that was a stress lingering over both of their heads. It didn’t help that Alex probably wasn’t going to be re-elected as Sheriff, with the DEA scandal still fresh in everyone’s mind. How he was able to evade any sentencing was beyond Norma, but she never questioned it. This town really had nothing left for either of them, and they both knew it, tiptoeing around the subject. Too many bad things had happened here, not only in the town, but in their own house too. It almost wasn’t worth it anymore.

Five o’ clock rolled around faster than expected, and Norma abandoned her half finished chores to get ready. It wasn’t a date, Norma knew, but she still spent her time trying to look decent for Alex, as if she ever really had to try at all. This was the first time she was going out in weeks, even if it was just to Alex’s house.

She arrived at six on the dot, not a minute earlier, nor later, and let herself inside.

“Alex?” she called, taking off her coat and hanging it on the wooden coat hanger by the door. “Why are all these lights off?”

She walked into the living room, flipping on the small lamp switch.

“Surprise!”

Norma let out a small gasp at the set up in front of her, placing a hand over her chest.

“What… is all this?” she asked, meeting him in the middle of the room, melting into his arms.

Alex’s living room was illuminated with small little fairy lights that were hung messily along the wall with thick pieces of duct tape. She could practically imagine Alex trying to neatly hang them, before becoming too frustrated and giving up, and smiled at how boyish and childlike it was. Blankets and pillows were thrown over the couch, and her favorite snacks were laid out neatly on the coffee table.

“Well I thought-“ he walked away for just a moment, grabbing a few DVDs off his side table. “I thought we could watch some of these old movies you like? And, I don’t know- relax? I… I don’t know.”

“Oh Alex,” she gasped, looking around the room again. “This is…” her voice broke. “...so nice.”

Alex put the movies down, watching as she turned away from him, sniffling a little.

“Are you crying?”

“No,” she replied tearfully, and he chuckled, gently grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her back.

“It’s just a movie night, Norma,” he said gently, wrapping his arms around her.

“It’s just… it’s really nice,” she wiped under her eyes, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

“It’s just a movie night,” he repeated, leading her towards the couch.

“I know,” she sniffled again, curling into his side. “But it’s so nice. I can’t believe you’d do all this for me!”

He gave her the softest of kisses against her lips and she sighed a little, warmth flooding in her chest at the love she felt for him. Getting over everything that happened hadn’t been easy on either of them, and working towards a place where they could live comfortably again was more difficult than either of them could imagine. But Alex somehow made it so much easier on her. There was no one else in the world she could spend her life with.

He separated from her and she whined just a bit, but he assured her he’d be back in only a moment. He put in the first DVD, Casablanca, and she immediately gasped.

“I _love_ this movie!”

He just smiled. He already knew that, of course, that’s why he chose it. Alex felt like he knew everything about Norma at this point. They had learned so much more about each other these past few months, Norma suddenly insisting that she’d always be one hundred percent honest with Alex, swearing she’d never lie to him again. He knew that wasn’t completely true, but her lies and deflecting were learned behaviors, some that would take time to undo. It wouldn’t happen overnight. She was trying though, and that’s what mattered.

They made it barely halfway through the movie when Norma began to doze off, the stress of the day wearing her down, and Alex’s warm body against hers lulling her to sleep. He pressed a kiss to her head, shifting her just a little so he could grab the remote and turn off the television.

“Wait!” she mumbled out sleepily. “It’s not over yet.”

“You’re sleeping,” he argued, a small smile on his face, and she quickly opened her eyes, shaking her head.

“I’m not sleeping!”

“Norma-“

“Please? Just a little longer?”

He huffed a small laugh, and eased back down. “Yeah okay. Just a few more minutes, okay?”

She hummed in response, clearly pleased at getting her own way. It’s not like Alex could say no to her, even if he wanted to, which most of the time he didn’t. He pulled her a little closer, gently running his fingers through her blonde strands of hair.

His mind couldn’t help but wander as he held her, grateful that she was even here in his arms. He felt a sting in his chest at the memory of pulling her lifeless body from her bed, her face pale and hands cold. It seemed so strange compared to the warmth she was emitting now. He had given up praying and religion a long time ago, but in that moment he prayed to whatever god was out there to give him his wife back. He almost couldn’t believe that she was here now, and while it took a long time for them to find any sense of normalcy, they were doing it. Together.

“Norma,” he gave her a little nudge and she hummed, sitting up a little. “Norma I-“

_I want to leave this town. I want to leave the place you almost died. I can’t be here anymore. I almost lost you._

“What?” she asked, sitting up straighter, noticing the concerned look on his face. “Alex?”

“I just can’t believe I almost lost you. I- I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Oh Alex,” she cupped his face, pulling him close. “Alex… I-I’m so sorry.”

He choked back a sob that was burning in the back of his throat, and she pulled him in closer. He buried his head in the crook of her neck, a few tears escaping his eyes as he thought about what could’ve been, what could have happened had he decided to not come over that horrible night.

“I’m here,” she spoke, her tone soothing and kind. “Nothing is ever going to happen again, okay? Honey- hon- look at me,” she pulled his face up to hers, placing a soft kiss against his lips. “We’re okay.”

“Norma,” he gasped, and she sniffled, wiping her own tears as she cuddled in even closer.

She shushed him as he choked on her name again. Norma realized that Alex hadn’t really broken down like this since that night in the hospital, when she woke up, gasping for air. He sobbed right then and there, holding her ever so gently, close to his body as he repeated over and over how much he loved her. Norma grieved for weeks after everything, reliving all that happened and Alex was there with her through it all.

Norman had somehow survived. It was nothing short of a miracle, one that Norma was grateful for. She had begged for days to see her son, but police were questioning the pair of them, separately, and for a while, they believed that Norma had tried to kill them both. It wasn’t until Norman admitted to everything that the truth came out. He was admitted to a mental facility through their local prison, much to Norma’s disdain, but he was deemed too dangerous to return to Pineview, so that’s where he would be for the time being. She hadn’t seen him since, and hadn't wanted to either. She was entirely too nervous to even think about having a conversation with him, and throughout it all, Alex was there. He was so busy supporting her that he hadn’t even had the chance to have a break down; to let his emotions out.

But he was now, and he felt guilty for ruining their movie night. Norma didn’t seem to mind though, her own face slick with tears, her head resting on his chest, listening to his slowly calming heartbeat.

“We need to get out of this town Alex,” Norma whispered against him. “There’s nothing left for us here anymore.”

“I know,” he replied, finally seeming to calm down. “I know.”

“I don’t know how we’ll ever sell the motel. I mean, no- no ones going to want it. Not after everything.”

He shushed her. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”

In all honesty, Alex already had things all figured out. Over the past few weeks, Alex had been skipping his work days and making the drive down to Seattle to look at houses with the help of Dylan and Emma. He knew it was a decision he probably should have made with Norma, but he wanted to surprise her, and he was sure he found the perfect house for the both of them.

It was a beautiful little place, out in the countryside, but only a short drive to Dylan and Emma’s house. In only a few short weeks, Norma and Alex would be making their way down to Seattle to visit them, and Alex knew it was the perfect time to bring her to the house. It took everything to not tell her now. But the surprise would be worth it. So for now, he held her close, promising her that everything would work out fine. Because he knew it would.

“Just trust me Norma. Okay?”

“I do.”


End file.
